Hebrew Union College

The College for Contemporary Judaism, founded and led by many former HUC faculty, is seeking to be party to Ohio's lawsuit against HUC, arguing CCJ should receive the college's Cincinnati assets.

The College for Contemporary Judaism was created in response to Hebrew Union College decision to no longer educate and ordain rabbis on its Cincinnati campus.

In a lawsuit, the attorney general alleges the college intends to sell its land and assets in Cincinnati, and is breaching its duty to maintain them in the city.

Ohio's attorney general filed suit against Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2024 after news reports that the school was considering selling off rare books from the Klau Library collections.

Attorney General Dave Yost is asking a Hamilton County judge for a temporary restraining order to prevent the school from selling or getting rid of "sacred texts." The school tells WVXU it has "no plans" to do so.

Hebrew Union College's Board of Governors, based in New York, voted to sunset the historic Cincinnati rabbinical program by the end of the 2026 academic year.

The change received more than a two-thirds vote from the HUC Board of Governors. It ends the nearly 150-year-old rabbinical program at the campus where American Reform Judaism was founded.

The most contentious proposed change would stop rabbi ordinations at the birthplace of American Reform Judaism.

Almost 300 alumni signed a letter to Board of Governors objecting to the proposed changes at the historic institution.

Cincinnati's Jewish community is celebrating 200 years of communal life. The Queen City played a pivotal role in the development of the Jewish faith outside of Europe, becoming the birthplace of Reform Judaism in North America.